Columns

At the end of March community partners in Carroll County will hold an event called Truth and Consequences.

The event is a program that is derived from Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension Service in Clinton County, Ky., and is used across the state in many counties. This year Carroll County’s Exten-sion Office partnered up with County Schools, Youth Services, Lighthouse and others to bring a community and school based event.

Fifteen minutes – that’s how long the new House Majority let opponents to charter schools discuss a last-minute funding bill that will siphon money from our public schools for years to come.

It was an 11th-hour sneak attack on March 15th, offered in the final moments of the final day for passing legislation. It was certainly not the first assault on the democratic process during the 2017 session, but it’s the one with the most potential for damaging the future of Kentucky’s school children.

Early mornings turned to late nights and spirited debate echoed through the House and Senate chambers as we closed in on the final days of the 2017 Legislative Session in Frankfort. A flurry of bills were sent to Governor Matt Bevin’s desk this week, highlighted by measures to empower our Kentucky teachers and create better learning environments for our Kentucky students.

Should a presidential appointee and an army of bureaucrats in a remote office building thousands of miles away decide what values, morals and ideas to instill in your children? I think not. Of all the harmful things our government in Washington, D.C., does, micromanaging education is perhaps the worst.

It seems as though lately our newspapers are riddled with the wreckage that drug addiction brings to our families and our community. The obituary section is full of depictions of lives ended way too early. The public record section is riddled with stories of people charged with drug possession or drug-related crimes. Our jails are full, children are left dependent, neglected and abused, and the morgues are busier than ever before. No one can deny the impact that drugs are having on our county, state and nation.

Whenever Donald Trump fumes about “fake news” or labels the press “the enemy of the people,” First Amendment scholar David L. Hudson Jr. hears echoes of other presidents — but a breadth and tone that are entirely new.

Trump may not know it, but it was Thomas Jefferson who once said, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper,” said Hudson, a law professor at Vanderbilt University.

Through a series of extreme parliamentary maneuvers that kept teachers and other interested Kentuckians from effectively voicing their concerns, the House Majority forced a vote on the “charter schools” bill Friday in an early morning committee meeting, before rushing the measure to the House floor where it passed on a 56-39 vote.

Late nights, packed committee meetings, and heated debate marked the fifth week of the 2017 Session. The Senate is quickly passing the remaining Senate bills out and receiving bills from the House for consideration. While there were some contested issues, the Senate conducted itself in a bipartisan fashion. We wasted no time this week and passed over 40 pieces of legislation including:

• Senate Bill 9, redistricting of judicial districts in order to better align caseloads with current census data;

On Instagram and Facebook you always see trainers asked about stubborn body fat and how they recommend getting rid of it. The reality is that there are so many variables to answer with a question like this it is tough to give one straight answer. What can be done for you is give four very common reasons why so many people fail to lose body fat effectively.